Oven for baking food products

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a steam system for a steam cooking appliance. The steam system includes a steam generator and a precipitator. The precipitator is arranged above the steam generator. The steam generator comprises two vertical heating pipe sections. Upper ends of the heating pipe sections are connected to a bottom side of the precipitator. Lower ends of the heating pipe sections are connected by a transverse pipe section. At least the heating pipe sections are at least partially enclosed by one of more heating elements. An inlet pipe is connected to the transverse pipe section at one end and connected or connectable to a water reservoir or water pump at another end. A return pipe is interconnected between the bottom side of the precipitator and the transverse pipe section. Further, the present invention relates to a corresponding steam cooking appliance.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED US APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/434,315 filed on Jun. 7, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/375,666 filed Jul. 30, 2014, which is a USNational Phase of PCT/EP2013/054958 filed on Mar. 12, 2013, the contentsof all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

DESCRIPTION

The present invention refers to an oven for baking food products.

In particular, the present invention is relative to an oven of the typecomprising a baking chamber provided with a door for the introduction ofthe food products to be baked; a support frame, which extends around thebaking chamber, and is thermally insulated from the baking chamberitself; a heating device, which is arranged inside the baking chamber,so as to provide the heat needed to bake the food products; and afeeding device for feeding steam into the baking chamber itself.

Generally, a feeding device of known type comprises a water tank, whichis fitted to the support frame, a tank filling duct, to which the userhas access from a front wall of the oven, a discharge duct fordischarging the water contained in the tank outside of the oven, a steamgenerator, which communicates with the tank, and a feeding circuit forfeeding the steam produced by the steam generator into the bakingchamber.

In order to prevent water from being fed into the feeding circuit and,thus, into the baking chamber, the feeding device comprises,furthermore, a separation chamber, which is separate from the tank, isarranged between the steam generator and the feeding circuit, and issuitable to separate the water from the steam and to recirculate thewater again to the inlet of the steam generator.

The tank normally comprises a cup-shaped container, and a closing lid,which is mounted on the cup-shaped container in a removable manner andis coupled in a fluid-tight manner to the cup-shaped container itself bymeans of the interposition of a plurality of gaskets.

The feeding device presents, furthermore, a filter, which is normallymounted inside the tank, so as to filter the water fed to theaforementioned discharge duct, and a level sensor for controlling thewater level inside the tank itself.

The known ovens for baking food products of the type described abovepresent some drawbacks, which are mainly caused by the fact that thetank is relatively complex and expensive to be produced due to thepresence of the cup-shaped container, of the closing lid, and of thegaskets, i.e. of a relatively high number of components.

Furthermore, the assembling of the cup-shaped container, of the closinglid, and of the gaskets has to be performed along the assembly line ofthe oven and leads, therefore, to a relatively long assembling cycle andto the possibility of assembling mistakes.

The drawbacks described above are further increased by the fact that theaforementioned separation chamber is distinct and separate from the tankand has to be connected to the tank itself by means of the interpositionof a feeding duct.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an oven for bakingfood products designed to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks in astraightforward, relatively low-cost manner.

According to the present invention, there is provided an oven for bakingfood products as claimed in any of the following claims.

The present invention will now be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, which show a non-limiting embodiment, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a first schematic rear view in perspective of a preferredembodiment of the oven according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a second schematic rear view in perspective, with partsremoved for clarity, of the oven of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic view in perspective, with sectioned parts andparts removed for clarity, of a first detail of the oven of FIGS. 1 and2 ; and

FIG. 4 shows an exploded view in perspective of a second detail of theoven of FIGS. 1 and 2 .

Number 1 in FIGS. 1 and 2 indicates as a whole an oven for baking foodproducts comprising a support frame 2 and a baking chamber 3, which ishoused inside the frame 2 and is thermally insulated from the frame 2itself by means of the interposition of a known insulating material,which is not shown.

The chamber 3 presents an opening (not shown), which allows the foodproducts to be introduced inside the chamber 3, it is formed incorrespondence to a front wall 4 of the oven 1, it extends in asubstantially vertical containing plane, and is closed by a door (notshown), which is hinged to the frame 2 so as to rotate, with respect tothe frame 2 itself, around a fulcrum axis (not shown), which may beparallel or perpendicular to a substantially horizontal direction 5.

The oven 1 is provided, furthermore, with a heating device 51, which isarranged inside the chamber 3, so as to provide the heat needed to bakethe food products present inside the chamber 3 itself.

The oven 1 comprises, furthermore, a feeding unit 6, which is suited tofeed steam into the chamber 3, and comprises, in turn, a tank 7 forcontaining water, a steam generator 8 communicating with the tank 7, anda feeding circuit 9 for feeding the steam produced by the generator 8itself into the chamber 3.

As shown in FIG. 4 , the tank 7 comprises two shells 10, each of whichpreferably presents a substantially U-shaped form, is cup-shaped,presents a concavity facing the other shell 10, and is made of apolymeric material, in particular an injection-moulded polymericmaterial. The U-shaped form of each shells 10 allows the tank 7 to bemounted on a back wall of an oven surrounding a motor device (not shownin the figures) arranged on a seat 50 formed on said back wall.

One of the shells 10 (hereinafter referred to as 10 a) preferablypresents a coupling rib 11, which extends along a peripheral edge 12 ofthe shell 10 a, presents an annular shape, and, when the shells arecoupled, it is housed inside an annular coupling seat 13, which isobtained along a peripheral edge 14 of the other shell (hereinafterreferred to as 10 b).

After the rib 11 has been inserted into the seat 13, the two shells 10a, 10 b are coupled to each other along a junction line 15 (FIG. 1 ),which extends in a containing plane that is substantially parallel tothe opening (not shown) of the chamber 3. The shells 10 a, 10 b arepermanently connected to each other along the line 15 without theinterposition of gaskets, in particular by means of welding, preferablybut not necessarily by means of vibration welding.

With reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 4 , the tank 7 presents a first sleeve16, which is manufactured as one single piece together with the shell 10a, is preferably obtained substantially in correspondence to one lateralend of an upper section of the edge 12, projects upwards from the shell10 a, and is connected to a filling duct 17 for filling the tank 7itself.

The duct 17 extends between the wall 4 and the sleeve 16, and comprisesan inlet section 18 inclined downwards and a substantially verticaloutlet section 19, which are suited to allow the tank 7 to be filledwith water by gravity.

The tank 7 is provided, furthermore, with an air trap 20, which ismanufactured partly on the shell 10 a and partly on the shell 10 b, andis obtained at the inlet of the sleeve 16, so as to prevent the steamfrom flowing along the duct 17 and from leaving the oven 1 through thewall 4.

The tank 7 presents, furthermore, a second sleeve 21, which ismanufactured as one single piece together with the shell 10 a, ispreferably obtained in correspondence to an intermediate point of theupper section of the edge 12, projects upwards from the shell 10 a, andis threaded on the outside, so as to allow the screwing of a levelsensor 22.

The sensor 22 comprises a support rod 23 projecting inside the tank 7,and a float 24, which is coupled to the rod 23 in a sliding manner, soas to move between a lowered position corresponding to the minimum waterlevel in the tank 7 and a raised position corresponding to the maximumwater level in he tank 7 itself. The position of the float along the rod23 can be sensed by a sensing device, known per se, that outputs asignal to a display device indicating intelligibly to a user, in onecase, the emptying of the tank 7 and, in the other case, the completefilling of the tank 7 itself.

The tank 7 is provided, furthermore, with a third sleeve 25, which ismanufactured as one single piece together with the shell lea, ispreferably obtained in correspondence to a lateral end of a lowersection of the edge 12, projects downwards from the shell 10 a, andallows an overflow duct 26 to be connected to the tank 7.

The duct 26 comprises an inlet section 27, which is substantiallyvertical and projects inside the tank 7, and an outlet section 28, whichcommunicates with the chamber 3, and is inclined downwards, so as todischarge into the chamber 3, by gravity, the excess water introduced bya user into the tank 7.

The tank 7 presents, furthermore, a fourth sleeve 29, which ismanufactured as one single piece together with the shell 10 a, ispreferably obtained in correspondence to a lateral end of the lowersection of the edge 12 opposite to the sleeve 25, projects downwardsfrom the shell 10 a, and allows the tank 7 to be connected to the upperend of a substantially vertical duct 30, which defines part of the steamgenerator 8, and is associated to a heating device 31, which is mountedon the duct 30 itself.

Due to the water evaporation in the duct 30, the generator 8 feedsthrough the sleeve 29 a mixture, which consists partly of steam andpartly of water, and is caused to move forward into a separation chamber32, which is shaped so as to allow the separation of water from thesteam.

The chamber 32 is preferably obtained in correspondence to an upperlateral portion of the tank 7, extends both above the level defined bythe inlet of the overflow duct 26 and above the level defined by theraised position of the float 24, and is limited on the upper side by asubstantially horizontal inner deflector 33, which is manufactured asone single piece together with the shell 10 a, and projects inside thetank 7 perpendicular to a bottom wall 34 of the shell 10 a, so as todeviate downwards and into the tank 7 the water fed through the sleeve29.

The chamber 32 communicates with the feeding circuit 9 by means of afifth sleeve 35, which is manufactured as one single piece together withthe shell 10 a, is preferably obtained in correspondence to a lateralend of the upper section of the edge 12 opposite to the sleeve 16,projects horizontally from the wall 34 along a direction which isperpendicular to the horizontal direction 5 and to the opening providedfor introducing food products inside the chamber 3. Said fifth sleeve 35allows the tank 7 to be connected to a feeding duct 36, which definespart of the feeding circuit 9, and feeds the steam to at least onedelivery nozzle (not shown), which is mounted inside the chamber 3.

The tank 7 presents, furthermore, a sixth sleeve 37, which ismanufactured as one single piece together with the shell 10 a, ispreferably obtained in correspondence to an intermediate point of thelower section of the edge 12, and projects downwards from the shell 10 aitself.

With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 , the tank 7 is associated, furthermore,to a filtering device 38, which is mounted outside and beneath theshells 10 a, lab, and comprises an upper cup-shaped body 39, which isarranged with its concavity facing downwards, is hooked in a removablemanner to the sixth sleeve 37 and to the lower end of the steamgenerator duct 30, and is closed by a lower lid 40, which is mounted ina removable manner on the body 39 itself.

The device 38 presents two ports 41, which are obtained through a bottomwall of the body 39 and are respectively coupled to the sixth sleeve 37,so as to admit water inside body 39, and to the steam generator duct 30to supply the latter with water and is provided with an outlet 42, whichis obtained through the lid 40. The outlet 42 is preferably interposedbetween the two ports 41 such that water passing from a port 41 to theother port 41 passes also over outlet 42.

The outlet 42 communicates with ports 41 through a perforated annularcollar 43, which projects from the lid 40 into the body 39, and extendsaround the outlet 42, so as to prevent the limescale present in thewater to reach the outlet 42 itself. The outlet 42, furthermore, isconnected to a discharge duct 44, which extends between the device 38and the wall 4, and allows the user to empty the tank 7.

In order to limit the heat exchange between the part of the tank 7corresponding to the sleeve 16 and to the air trap 20 and the part ofthe tank 7 corresponding to the separation chamber 32 and in order toguarantee a correct operation of the sensor 22, the tank 7 is providedwith a plurality of substantially vertical dividing baffles 45 (inparticular four baffles 45), which are manufactured as one single piecetogether with the shell 10 a, project inside the tank 7 perpendicular tothe wall 34, and are arranged at a given distance from the edge 12.

The tank 7 is provided, furthermore, with a plurality of fixing brackets46, which are manufactured as one single piece together with the shell10 a, so a to allow the tank 7 to be fitted to the frame 2. Ifpreferred, said plurality of fixing brackets 46 may be formed as asingle piece part on one of the two shells 10 a, 10 b and part on theother shell.

According to some variants that are not shown:

each sleeve 16 and/or 21 and/or 25 and/or 29 and/or 35 and/or 37 ismanufactured as one single piece together with the shell 10 b;

each sleeve 16 and/or 21 and/or 25 and/or 29 and/or 35 and/or 37 isobtained partly on the shell 10 a and partly on the shell 10 h; in thisway an inlet/outlet opening formed by each of said sleeve is divided bythe tank shell junction line 15.

each dividing baffle 45 is manufactured as one single piece togetherwith the shell 10 b; and

each dividing baffle 45 is obtained partly on the shell 10 a and partlyon the shell 10 b.

In use, the tank 7 and the duct 30 of the steam generator 8 are filledwith water by the user through the filling duct 17.

Once the float 24 of the level sensor 22 has reached a positioncomprised between its lowered position and its raised position, or aposition equal the latter, the food products to be baked have beeninserted into the baking chamber 3, and a steam cooking mode ofoperation has been selected, the heating device 31 is activated, so asto cause the evaporation of a water amount present in the duct 30.

The mixture of water and steam generated by the heating of the waterpresent in the duct 30 is fed through the sleeve 29 into the separationchamber 32, where the water bounces against the deflector 33, so as tobe recirculated again in the tank 7, while the steam is fed, first ofall, through the sleeve 35, then along the duct 36 of the feedingcircuit 9, and, finally, into the baking chamber 3.

With reference to what has been described above, it should be pointedout that:

the excess water introduced by the user into the tank 7 through the duct17 is discharged into the baking chamber 3 through the overflow duct 26;

at the end of one or more baking cycles, the tank 7 may be emptied bythe user through the discharge duct 44;

the position and the shape of the filtering device 38 allow an easymaintenance and cleaning of the filtering device 38 itself by simplyremoving the lid 40 from the body 39;

the permanent connection of the shells 10 a, 10 b does not require theuse of gaskets and allows the whole tank 7 to be inserted in theassembly line of the oven 1; and the fact that the separation chamber 32is built-in in the tank 7 allows a reduction of the number of componentsused while assembling the oven 1 itself.

In addition, a tank 7 made according to the invention allows an easyinstallation of a water level sensor device 22 that may beinspected/removed by the tank 7 at any time. Furthermore, the provisionof one or more sleeve 16, 21, 25, 29, 35, 37 formed partly on the shell10 a and partly on the shell 10 b simplify the manufacture process ofthe tank 7 because reduces the number of runners to be installed in amould when forming each of the two shells 10 a, 10 b. In fact, byforming one or more sleeve 16, 21, 25, 29, 35, 37 as disclosed above,the joining direction of the shells 10 a, 10 b of the tank 7 is the sameas the demoulding direction of each of the shells in theinjection-moulding machine, and it is perpendicular to the tank shellsassembly plane.

What is claimed is:
 1. A steam feeding unit for feeding steam into abaking chamber of an oven, comprising: a water tank for storing water; asteam generator having an inlet and an outlet, said inlet being in fluidcommunication with said water tank for receiving=water therefrom, saidsteam generator comprising a heater to heat water therein to convert atleast a portion of said water therein to steam; and a separation chamberhaving an inlet in fluid communication with said outlet of said steamgenerator for receiving a mixture of steam and water therefrom, saidseparation chamber being configured to separate steam and water fromsaid mixture, a first outlet of said separation chamber being in fluidcommunication with said baking chamber for delivering separated steamthereto, and a second outlet of said separation chamber being in fluidcommunication with a location upstream of said inlet of said steamgenerator for recirculating separated water thereto, wherein saidseparation chamber is arranged above a maximum fillable water level ofsaid steam feeding unit.
 2. The steam feeding unit of claim 1, furthercomprising an overflow duct having an inlet section arranged within thewater tank, the inlet section defining the maximum fillable water levelof the steam feeding unit.
 3. The steam feeding unit of claim 1, saidsteam generator comprising a duct and a heater configured such that saidheater converts liquid water that enters said duct via said inlet ofsaid steam generator to steam as said water proceeds through said ducttoward said outlet.
 4. The steam feeding unit of claim 3, said inlet ofsaid steam generator being arranged at a first end of said duct and saidoutlet of said steam generator being arranged at a second end of saidduct.
 5. The steam feeding unit of claim 1, said water tank comprisingan outlet in fluid communication with said inlet of said steamgenerator, said water tank and said steam generator being arranged suchthat water flows from said outlet of said water tank to said inlet ofsaid steam generator via gravity.
 6. The steam feeding unit of claim 1,said separation chamber configured such that water received at saidinlet of said separation chamber flows to said second outlet of saidseparation chamber via gravity.
 7. The steam feeding unit of claim 1,said first outlet of said separation chamber being arranged above saidinlet of said separation chamber.
 8. The steam feeding unit of claim 1,said second outlet of said separation chamber configured such that waterexits said separation chamber through said second outlet via gravity. 9.The steam feeding unit of claim 1, said second outlet of said separationchamber being arranged above said location upstream of said inlet ofsaid steam generator such that water that exits said second outlet ofsaid separation chamber flows to said inlet of said steam generator viagravity.
 10. The steam feeding unit of claim 1, said inlet of saidseparation chamber being arranged above said outlet of said steamgenerator.
 11. The steam feeding unit of claim 1, further comprising adischarge duct fluidly connected to both the water reservoir and thesteam generator, such that the discharge duct can drain both the waterreservoir and the steam generator.
 12. The steam feeding unit of claim11, said discharge duct being connected to a filtering device configuredto filter water reserved therein from said water reservoir, thefiltering device being connected in fluid communication between thewater reservoir and the steam generator.
 13. The steam feeding unit ofclaim 1, further comprising a feeding duct having a first end connectedto said first outlet of said separation chamber and a second endconnected to said baking chamber.
 14. A method of operating the steamfeeding unit of claim 1, said method comprising the steps of: deliveringsaid water from said water tank to said steam generator, heating saidwater in said steam generator to produce the mixture of water and steam,delivering said mixture of water and steam to said separation chamber,within said separation chamber, separating said mixture into a watercomponent and a steam component, recirculating said water component tothe location upstream of said steam generator, and delivering said steamcomponent to said baking chamber.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein:the steam component is fed from the separation chamber to a feeding ducthaving a first end connected to said separation chamber and a second endconnected to said baking chamber, and then the steam component isdelivered from said feeding duct to said baking chamber
 16. The methodof claim 14, wherein said step of delivering water from said water tankto said steam generator is carried out by gravity.
 17. The method ofclaim 14, wherein said step of delivering said mixture of water andsteam to said separation chamber occurs via upward flow.
 18. The methodof claim 14, wherein said steam component separated from said mixture insaid separation chamber flows upward therein to said first outlet ofsaid separation chamber en route to said baking chamber, and said watercomponent separated from said mixture in said separation chamber flowsdownward therein by gravity to said second outlet of said separationchamber en route to said inlet of said steam generator.
 19. An ovencomprising: a baking chamber; and a steam feeding unit for feeding steaminto the baking chamber, the steam feeding unit comprising: a water tankfor storing water; a steam generator having an inlet and an outlet, saidinlet being in fluid communication with said water tank for receivingwater therefrom, said steam generator configured to heat water thereinto convert at least a portion of said water therein to steam; and aseparation chamber having an inlet being in fluid communication withsaid outlet of said steam generator for receiving a mixture of steam andwater therefrom, said separation chamber being configured to separatesteam and water from said mixture, a first outlet of said separationchamber being in fluid communication with said baking chamber fordelivering separated steam thereto, and a second outlet of saidseparation chamber being in fluid communication with a location upstreamof said inlet of said steam generator for recirculating separated waterthereto, wherein said separation chamber is arranged above a maximumfillable water level of said steam feeding unit.
 20. A steam feedingunit for feeding steam into a baking chamber of an oven, comprising: awater tank for storing water; a steam generator having an inlet and anoutlet, said inlet being in fluid communication with said water tank forreceiving water therefrom, said steam generator comprising a heater toheat water therein to convert at least a portion of said water thereinto steam; and a separation chamber having only one inlet for moisture,said inlet being in fluid communication with said outlet of said steamgenerator for receiving a mixture of steam and water therefrom, saidseparation chamber being configured to separate steam and water fromsaid mixture, a first outlet of said separation chamber being in fluidcommunication with said baking chamber for delivering separated steamthereto, and a second outlet of said separation chamber being in fluidcommunication with a location upstream of said inlet of said steamgenerator for recirculating separated water thereto, wherein saidseparation chamber is arranged above a maximum fillable water level ofsaid steam feeding unit.